Distillation apparatus for the production of zinc or similar volatilizable metals



July 17, 1934. F. JOHANNSEN ET AL 1,965,527

DISTILLATION APPARATUS FOR THE PRODUCTION OF ZINC QR SIMILAR VOLATILIZABLE METALS Filed Dec. 14, 1931 3 Sheets-Sheet l N Q N Q4 & g0 2% (J F H N QD July 17, 1934. F. JOHANNSEN El AL 1,966,627

' DISTILLATION APPARATUS FOR THE PRODUCTION OF ZINC OR SIMILAR VOLATILIZABLE METALS Filed Dec. 14, 1931 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Fly/.

July 17, 1934. F. JOHANNSEN ET AL 1,966,627

DISTILLATION APPARATUS FOR THE PRODUCTION OF ZINC SIMILAR VOLATILIZABLE METALS Filed Dec. 14, 1931 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Patented July 17, 1934 DISTILLATION APPARATUS FOR THE PRO- nUoTIoN F zINo on SIMILAR VOLATIL- IZABLE METALS Friedrich Johannsen and Arthur Leysner, Magdeburg, Germany, assignors to the firm Fried. Krupp Grusonwerk Aktiengesellschaft, Magdeburg-Buckau, Germany Application December 14, 1931, Serial No.

In Germany December 20, 1930 14 Claims. (01. 266-19 g This invention relates to apparatus for theproduction of zinc or similar volatilizable metals (such as cadmium, mercury etc.) recoverable by distillation from ores, metallurgical products and materials of various kinds. The object of the invention is to render the distillation process that has previously usually been employed more economical by improving the heat utilization and the yield of metal.

According to the present invention the -reduction and the volatilization of the metal is efiected in a mufiie which is built into a rotary furnace, the residue from the muiiie process being discharged into the combustion space of the rotary furnace, while excluding a flow of gas from the mufile into the furnace as far as possible and the reducing materials being burnt in said combustion space with the addition ofv gases containing oxygen. In this way, the heat of combustion is utilized directly for providing the necessary heat for the mufiie process.

In order that the said invention may be clear- 1y understood and readily carried into effect, the same will now be more fully described with reference to the accompanying drawings which illustrate by way of example several constructions of rotary furnace plants suitable for carrying out the process according to the present invention and in which:

Figures 1, 3 and 5 illustrate in longitudinal section rotary furnaces with respectively difierent details of construction.

Figures 2, 4 and 6 are respectively cross-sections on a larger scale on the lines IIII, IVIV and VIVI, of Figures 1', 3 and 5, and Fig. 1b is a fragmentary sectional view of a modified form of the furnace shown in Fig. 1.

In the plant illustrated in Figures 1 and 2, a mufile 11 made of strong and particularly heat-resistant material, such for example as a special iron alloy, silicon carbide, graphite, etc. is built into the rotary furnace 12, which rotates round its somewhat inclined axis, in such manner that it is compelled to rotate with the rotary furnace. The muflie can, for example, be secured by masonry pillars 15; arranged starwise. The pipe 14 serves for the delivery of the material or of the mixed charge, in place of which, however, any other delivery device, as for example shaking troughs or the like, may be used. The charge passes from the T0- tary furnace space through a helical tube 15 into the mufiie 11. The inner space of the muflie is divided into two compartments 11aand 11?) by a Partition 16. From the compartment 116 the residue from the muffle process is carried by a helical tube 17 from the interior of the mufile into the rotary furnace space.. The two compartments 11a and 11b are connected together only by a gap 18 which permits passage of the material from the space 11a into the space 11b. A pipe conduit 19, which, is connected gas-tight at 20 with the mufiie and is provided inside the muflie with oneor more apertures to receive the gases, serves to carryaway the metal vapours and reducing gases developed in the muflie. The pipe conduit 19 leads to a condenser 21 which is arranged in the furnace itself and is positively connected therewith. From the condenser'21 a pipe 22 leads outof the furnace and serves to carry away the reducing gases and the uncondensed metat vapours.

The axis of the furnace 12 need not be inclined ring '24 is. arranged in the furnace in front of the "helical, pipe 15 passing from the rotary furnace space into the muflie.

-In the construction according to Figures 3 and 4, the mufile31 is divided into two parts 31a and 3117 by an inner tube 32, on the inner circumference of which a helix 33 is provided, which assists the return of the material coming from the compartment 31a, inside of compartment 31b. The outlet pipe 34 for the metal vapours is connected with the mufile part 31a by one or more connecting pipes 35. In this construction it is advisable to move the material in the outer muflie in the opposite direction to the heating gases sweeping through the rotary furnace space and to carry itv back in the inner muffle in the direction of the current of the heating gases, so that the heating of the outer muflle space, which then represents the main reduction zone, takes place from the outside muffle pipe 31, which is exposed to the higher temperature, entirely or partially of a specially heat-resisting material, as for example silicon carbide, while for the inner muffle pipe 32 a simple iron alloy, for example, may sumce. For conveying the material between the muffle 31 and the space of the rotary furnace 36 a worm 37 is provided. For the delivery of the material the pipe 38 is provided.

39 is a helical tube and 40 a battle ring, these parts being similar to the corresponding parts 17 and 24 of Fig. 1. If necessary, in order to remove the worm conveyor from the influence of the furnace gases, it may be protected by masonry or arranged outside the furnace, as shown in Fig. 16. In this case a pipe 71 leads from an opening in the muffle to the externally situated worm 72, by which it is moved in the direction of the arrow Z and then from the worm back into the rotary furnace space through an opening 73. The latter arrangement has the advantage that the worm is accessible during working. The worm can be covered with a special brickwork 74 to prevent the material from cooling off.

The method of operation of the process with the apparatus according to Figures 1 to 4, takes place as follows:

By means of a charging apparatus 14 or 38, the mixture of the metalliferous material, consisting for example of zinc oxide or roasted blend, together with a reduction medium, for example coke, spongy iron, iron turnings, and the like, is introduced into the rotary furnace and travels along the floor thereof up to the baffle ring 24 or 40, owing to the movement of the furnace and the slope of the material as it piles up at the feeding-in end of the furnace. Through an opening of this baflie ring the charge reaches the delivery device, the helical pipe 15 or 39. During its passage through the rotary furnace space just mentioned, the mixture is pre-heated by the furnace gases that are withdrawn. Furthermore, the furnace gases still contain as a rule in this part of the furnace a little oxygen, so that the pre-heating takes place partly by direct combustion of a part of the added reduction material. If in many cases such a combustion is to be avoided, as for example when using iron as the reduction medium, a pre-heating of the mixture can also be effected indirectly by means of the furnace gases by. for example, extending up to the inlet end of the furnace the apparatus, i. e. the helical pipe 15 or 39, which delivers the material into the mufile. In this case the material does not come into direct contact with the exhaust gases. The material delivered through the helical pipe 15 or 39 into the muflle space 11a or 3111 travels therein in the direction of the arrow :0, and passes through the gap 18 or 41 ino the other muffle space 11b or 31b. In this space it travels back close up to its point of entry, and the residue then passes through the discharge device, i. e. the helical pipe 17 or 3'7, into the rotary furnace space. In the rotary furnace space, the

residue then passes along the floor up to the discharge end of the furnace. As an oxygencontaining atmosphere is maintained in the rotary furnace space, there takes place combustion of the reducing materials, in particular of the coke, that are still present in the residue, so that a large part of the heat necessary for the muflle process is produced from the residue itself directly at the spot where the heat i used. The above-mentioned subdivision of, the muiile assists this heat utilization or renders it more complete, since the solid material in the muffle. and the residue thereof travel three times through the mufile zone, namely, in the direction a: in the part 11a or 31a, then almost the whole distance in the opposite direction in the part 1112 or 31b, and finally again in the direction :r in the rotary furnace outside the mufile.

In the main reduction zone in the compartment 11a or 31a of the mufiier, heat is therefore given up from the rotary furnace space surrounding the muflie by the combustion of the reducing materials still contained in the residue, and furthermore also from the part 111) or 31b in which a reduction on a smaller scale still takes place. With very easily distillable substances such for example as those containing the product commercially known as Blue Powder or Zinc Dust, or mercury and cadmiumcontaining materials, one passage through the mufiie will often suffice, the muffie residue being carried into the furnace space at theend of the mufiie adjacent to the discharge part of the furnace. The combustion of the reducing material contained in the residue then takes place in the rotary furnace zone between this end of the muiile and the discharge end of the furnace. The temperature attained in the mufie is correspondingly lower in this form of construction. The inlet and outlet devices 15 and 17, or 39 and 3? ensure a thorough'gas tight seal between the muffle and rotary furnace space. The transfer of the metal vapours from the mufiie into the furnace space at the discharge device of the muflie can be prevented or reduced by maintaining a slight reduced pressure in the muffle space by means of the suction pipe. The metal vapours produced in the mufiie pass through the open end of the pipe 19 or 34 into this latter, and if necessary also through intermediate openings in the pipe 19, and, inthe apparatus according to Figure 3, through pipe connectors 35. The metal vapours then flow into the condenser 21 or 42 through the pipe 19 or 34 and. the metal is there precipitated as a liquid bath. The precipitated metal can be drawn off continuously or intermittently by a pipe 25 or 43. This pipe 25 or 43 is fitted, in the examples of construction shown, in the vicinity of the condenser end opposite the muffle; it can, however, be fitted at some other point of the condenser as, for example, at the front end of the condenser turned towards the inlet end of the furnace. The residual gases from the condensation leave the condenser by the pipe 22 or 44. The apparatus according to Figures 5 and 6 differs from the apparatus according to Figures 1 to 4, by the fact that, instead of a muflle being divided up internally, several muflies 51, 52 are connected in parallel, and preferably as straight tubes parallel to the axis of the furnace 55. Each of the these tubes 51, 52 may also be divided up internally, so that each could be used for the backward and forward passage of the charge in the muflle zone. The material is fed into the tubes 52 through a helical tube 60 from which branch pipes 61 lead to the several tubes 52. The material is discharged from the tubes 51 into the combustion space of the furnace through feeder pipes 62 and a helical pipe 58. The muiile arrangement according to Figures 5 and 6 is especially suited for large furnace installations.

its

I to arrange the condensation space in the preheating zone of the furnace, as then the uniform temperature obtaining in this zone may be utilized to maintain the condensation temperature, if necessary the condensation space being:

kept by an insulated layer at a somewhat lower temperature than the pro-heating zone itself. In this case, it is preferable to combine the return pipe 54 for the exhaust gases of the container 53 with the rotating part of the furnace 55, so that as the pipe 54 coming from the containerrotates, a joint between the rotating pipe and a stationary pipe line is avoided. A reduced pressure is produced by the combustion air of the burner 56 acting as an injector.

It is recommended in general to make the feed of reducing material, for example of coke, so large from the outset that suflicient fuel is contained in the residue to ensure active combustion in the rotary furnace and to vaporize in the rotary furnace the metal contents still present in the residue from the mufiie. Insofar as the heat thereby developed does not suflice to maintain the muflie process, a supplementary heating by coal dust, gases, oil, and the like, can be effected at 23, 45, or 57. If diflicultly combustible substances, as for example iron, carbides etc., are used as the reducing agent, then in order to assist the combustion of the muiile residue and the vaporization of the remainder of the metal, further fuel canbe added to the residue from the muilie on its discharge from the discharge device 1'7, 37, or 58 for example by blowing in coarse grained coke or coal through the burner 23, '45, or 57. While the liquidmetal formed in the condenser is, as above mentioned, continuously or intermittently withdrawn, for .example through an outlet 25 in the furnace wall, the metals reduced and no volatilized in the muille, as for example lead, can also be drawn out through the outlet 26.

The following are the technical and economic advantages of the process according to the present invention as compared with muflie working the charge in the muifle permits reduction at as hitherto practiced:-

1. The continuous operation of the process means an important reduction of the very expensive and unhealthy labour of muflie working as carried out hitherto.

2. The continuous movement and mixing of lower temperatures, as the overheating of the muille walls otherwise necessary in view of the colder muliie core is dispensed with. The movement of the mixture furthermore increases the speed of reduction, so that the vaporization per unit of time and muflie surface is considerably increased.

3. The surplus coke present in the residue is utilized directly, by combustion in the furnace space. for the muiile process. The development of this heat takes place in a longer zone with uniform temperature, so that the disadvantages of'flame heating through local overheating are avoided.

4. By means of the present process, it is posdirectly useful for the process by the combustion in the rotary furnace.

5. By means of the present process, it is possible to eifect the preliminary heating of the material by direct heating when the exhaust gases of this zone which are injurious for the condensation do not pass into the condensation installation but are carried away with the furnace exhaust gases so that the metal vapours already vaporized in this zone can be recovered I from the exhaust gases.

6. For economic reasons; the reduction is prefarably not completely carried out in the muflle,

but only some 60 to of the metal is reduced.

and vaporized within the muille. After leaving the muiile, the rest of the metal is reduced and burnt from the residue in the rotary furnace large part of the metals is reduced'and volatilized at lower temperatures'in the muflle and the remaining metal content, by utilizing the reduction material still present in the'residue, is

recovered as oxide by volatilization, whilst a uni-,

form heating of the m iflie, not hitherto possible, is at the same time attained. While with the mums. working according to the usual practice heretofore in use ZOO-250% of fuel, calculated on the raw material, is in general necessary for the production of zinc, with the new process according to the present invention the distillation may be carried outwith a total of 40-70% of fuel, or if some 10-40% of the material is recovered as oxide and again returned to the muflie process, with a total fuel consumption of (SO-100%.

Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we claim is:--

1. Apparatus for recovering volatilizable metals, such as zinc, comprising a muflie, a furnace surrounding said muilie, means for continuously feeding to said mume raw material from which the metal is to be recovered and a reducing agent, means for causing the material and reducing agent to travel continuously through said muflie, an outlet for the solid residue leading from said muflie into said furnace, said feeding means and outlet being adapted substantially to prevent a flow of gas from said muflie through them, means for bringing oxygen containing gases into contact with the solid residue discharge from said muiile whereby to burn any oxidizable substances remaining in said residue for heating said muiile exterior ly, means for leading out of said muflle vapors generated therein, and means for condensing the metallic constituent of said vapors.

2. Apparatus for recovering volatilizable metals, such as zinc, comprising a rotary furnace, a muflie within the combustion space of said furnace, means for feeding raw material and reducing material into said muille, means for discharging the solid residue from said muflle into the combustion space of said furnace, said feeding and discharging means.

being adapted substantially to prevent a flow of gas through them, a condenser, and means for conveying vapors produced in said mufile into said condenser.

3. Apparatus as defined in claim 2, wherein said muiiie is constructed so as to cause the material to travel the length thereof a plurality of times before reaching said discharge means.

4. Apparatus as defined in claim 2, in combination with means for conveying non-condensed gases from said condenser to the combustion space of said furnace.

5. Apparatus as defined in claim 2, wherein said condenser is located within the furnace, in combination with means for leading off noncondensed gases from said condenser separately from the rotary furnace exhaust gases.

6. Apparatus as defined in claim 2, wherein the solid residue is discharged from said muffle near one end thereof and is caused to travel along the muflle in the combustion space of the furnace.

'7. Apparatus for recovering volatilizable metals, such as zinc, comprising a rotary furnace having a preheating space and a combustion space, a muflle located in said combustion space, means for charging raw material and reducing material into said preheating space, means for conveying the preheated material into said muflie, means for discharging the solid residue from said muflie into said combustion space, said conveying and discharging means being adapted substantially to prevent a flow of gas through them, a condenser, and means for conveying vapors generated in said muflle into said condenser.

,8. Apparatus as described in claim 2, wherein said mufile is in the form of a tube mounted with its axis lying longitudinally in said furthe wall of said furnace nace, the inner space of said tube being divided by a longitudinal partition, said partition terminating short of the end of said mufile opposite to the feeding-in end thereof to provide for the passage of material from one part of the muflie into the other.

9. Apparatus as described in claim. 2, wherein said muflle is in the form of a tube mounted with its axis lying longitudinally in said furnace, the inner space of said tube being divided by a longitudinal inner tube, said inner tube terminating short of the end of said mulfle opposite the feeding-in end thereof to provide for the passage of material from the outer part of said muflle into said inner tube.

10. Apparatus as described in-claim 2, wherein said muflie is in the form of a plurality of tubes parallel to the axis of the furnace and interconnected in a series for the progressive travel of the material through the whole series of tubes.

11. Apparatus as described in claim 2, wherein said muflie is of tortuous tubular form.

12. Apparatus as described in claim 2, wherein said feeding and discharging means are in the form of helical conduits coaxial with the furnace axis.

13. Apparatus as described in claim '7, wherein said condenser is mounted in the preheating space of said furnace.

14. Apparatus as described in claim 7, wherein said condenser is mounted in the preheating space of said furnace, in combination with a pipe leading from said condenser out through for the discharge of the metal from said condenser.

FRIEDRICH JoHANNsEN- ARTHUR LEYsNE 

